Jobs Reshaped For The '90s

January 30, 1996|By PATRICK PLAISANCE Daily Press

Time constantly is acting upon the world of work in thousands of ways. It has squeezed into oblivion jobs such as Pony Express riders and town criers. And it has transformed countless others; computers have turned typists into desktop publishing experts.

The evolution of technology, the search for efficiency and the demands of government regulation and the marketplace are some of the dominant forces that have shaped how we work. Here is a glimpse of how those forces have altered several occupations that reflect the uniqueness of the Peninsula.

They were called hostesses, not interpreters, when Colonial Williamsburg began recreating 18th-century life in restored buildings. But even in the foundation's beginnings in the 1930s, the local women dressed in satin hoop skirts who worked as some of CW's first interpreters were rigorously trained in history and presentation.

``They weren't just thrown in the buildings and asked to look cute,'' said Conny Graft, director of interpretive education and support at CW. Now, the foundation's approximately 400 historical interpreters - ranging from individuals who portray historic figures, blacksmiths and apothecaries to specialists on particular buildings - have several years of intense training, Graft said.

But the job of interpreting history is a constantly changing one, as historical and archaeological research reveals new details of the past - which means the jobs of interpreters are constantly evolving. Such research conducted in the last five years has resulted in a new series of programs beginning this spring: ``Becoming Americans: our struggle to be both free and equal.'' The story lines to be presented in public will involve contemporary issues, such as patriotism, individual rights and family values. ``We're taking issues and problems of today and asking ourselves, `How did people deal with these in the past?' '' Graft said.

WATERMEN.

The harvesting of crabs, oysters and fish from the Chesapeake Bay and area tributaries is one of the state's oldest occupations, dating back to the earliest English settlers and chronicled at the Watermen's Museum in Yorktown. For generations, watermen have sailed to familiar beds of shellfish on ``deadrises,'' or broad, shallow boats, to scoop up oysters with iron tongs or to haul up crab pots - square, wire cages used to bait and trap the famous blue crab. But more than the advent of sonar depth finders, diesel engines and automated winches, increased regulation and scarcity of seafood profoundly have altered the industry in the last decade.

The dramatically declining harvest - blamed on increased pollution, overfishing and increased demand - has prompted numerous moves by state officials to regulate the industry. The regulations, in turn, have pitted commercial watermen against state conservation officials.

A battery of rules such as the ones limiting hours of oyster harvesting, areas that can be tonged and number of people allowed to catch particular types of fish and shellfish have made many longtime watermen fear their industry is facing extinction.

``It's almost just like what happened to our ancestors,'' said Poquoson waterman Billy Moore. ``We're just being pushed back into a corner and pushed out. That's really how I feel.''

SHIP DESIGNER/

Nearly two decades ago, Jon Brunke was trained as a draftsman. His tools were a T-square, a slide rule and lots of pens and ink. That worked fine for his work of drawing parts needed for submarine-repair jobs at Newport News Shipbuilding. But Brunke's tools and his job description have been dramatically transformed by technology and efforts to increase efficiency. Now, the mechanical designer's job is part engineering, part drafting and part manufacturing preparation.

``Newport News Shipbuilding doesn't have draftsmen training anymore,'' said Brunke, who has been with the shipyard for 17 years. ``There is more expected of us as designers, and now I do some low-end engineering.''

The senior mechanical designer put away his T-square and drafting paper about 12 years ago. Now he spends much of the day producing two-dimensional drawings for components of the Seawolf submarine torpedo room on a computer-aided design and manufacturing system, or CADM. While the Seawolf, the Navy's newest fast-attack sub, is being constructed by Electric Boat in Groton, Conn., Newport News received the lead design contract for the forward end of the ship.

A drawing that would have taken an entire day now can be done on the computer in about six hours, Brunke said. More importantly, if engineers or manufacturers made any alterations on his paper rendering, it was literally back to the drawing board for Brunke to incorporate the changes into a new drawing. With the computer system, any changes are automatically incorporated into the design, saving a tremendous amount of time. That also means Brunke works closely with the people in charge of actually manufacturing the part.